This Southwest Potato Salad is made with grilled or roasted potatoes, peppers, corn on the cob and fresh tomatoes, tossed in a taco spiced vinaigrette!
See the full step by step recipe video down in the recipe card.
This post is generously sponsored by The Little Potato Company and I was compensated for my time in creating this recipe. Thank you for supporting the brands that make The Recipe Rebel possible!
Table of Contents
Potato salad is a barbecue season favorite, and this Southwest Potato Salad is a fun way to take your potato salad to the next level!
As much as we love this German Potato Salad from last month, we all need a little spice in our lives now and then.
It goes perfectly with this BBQ Chicken or these grilled Turkey Burgers, but it can be a meal all on its own!
It’s made with Creamer potatoes (I love using the Terrific Trio from The Little Potato Company for some fun colors!), corn on the cob (off the cob 😉 ), roasted or grilled peppers, and fresh cherry tomatoes.
Toss it in an incredibly simple, smoky and slightly spicy taco-inspired vinaigrette and some fresh cilantro for a potato salad your family will ask for again and again!
Tips for making Southwest Potato Salad:
- The corn on the cob will take the longest to cook, so keep that in mind and prep it first. After about 10-15 minutes, we’ll add the rest of the vegetables.
- I like to cut my vegetables into bite-sized pieces before roasting (aside from the corn, which I like to throw on whole and cut off afterwards), so that it’s easy to toss later. For the potatoes and peppers, I cut them into 3/4″ to 1″ pieces. This can easily be done while the corn gets a head start in the oven!
- While all of the vegetables are in the oven, whip up the super simple vinaigrette.
- Toss the vegetables while still slightly warm so they soak up more of that flavorful dressing! Then you can choose to serve warm, room temperature or chilled.
Ingredients needed for Southwest Potato Salad roast vegetables on sheet pan or grill Stir together taco spiced vinaigrette Stir together vegetables and toss in dressing
Ingredients and Substitutions:
- Little potatoes: I love using Little potatoes because they make life easier! There’s no washing or peeling, and I only cut them for this salad so they are in bite-sized pieces for little mouths. Any varietal will work, but I love using the Terrific Trio here because it’s such a colorful salad!
- Corn on the cob: I love the big chunks of corn on the cob in this salad, but if corn on the cob isn’t in season where you are, you can always swap in a can of corn (drained) instead! If you have leftover corn on the cob, that’s even better!
- Bell peppers: I always have to add in peppers to anything Southwest or Mexican inspired! You can leave them out if you need to, but they do add a pile of flavor and great color.
- Cherry tomatoes: I love cherry tomatoes for their small size and fresh burst of flavor! If you don’t have cherry tomatoes, you can chop up a large tomato or two instead. You may want to squeeze out the excess liquid as the large tomatoes tend to be more watery than cherry tomatoes.
- Cilantro: I’ll be honest, I’m not always a big cilantro fan but it does go perfectly in here! If you prefer, you can leave it out or swap in sliced green onions or chopped parsley for something fresh and green
- Vinaigrette: This homemade Southwest vinaigrette is simple to make, but you can swap it out for a store bought variety if you need to cut some prep time. Italian, Chipotle, or Catalina are great options.
Optional add ins:
There are so many ways to mix this potato salad up and make it your own! Here are a few of our favorite additions:
- Black beans: they add a great sour of protein and are a classic Southwest ingredient
- Corn chips or tortilla strips: if you need some crunch!
- Fresh avocado: add just before serving
- Lime wedges: for those that like a punch of citrus!
- Red onion: you can add it raw or roast it with the vegetables
What to serve with this Southwest Potato Salad:
While we love to add black beans and make this potato salad a picnic-ready meal all on its own, it’s the perfect complement to so many summer meals!
Here are a few of our favorites:
- Grilled Chicken Marinade – for any cut of chicken!
- Hawaiian Chicken Kabobs
- Fajita Steak Kabobs
- The Best Burgers
Southwest Potato Salad
written by Ashley Fehr
Ingredients
- 2 cobs fresh corn (shucked)
- 1 lb Little potatoes (quartered)
- 1 small onion (diced)
- 1 bell pepper (cut into 1/2" pieces)
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
- 1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
Taco-Spiced Vinaigrette
- ¼ cup canola oil
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1-2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
- Wrap corn cobs in foil and place on baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, prep your potatoes, pepper and onion by cutting them into ½-¾" pieces.
- After 15 minutes, remove the corn from the oven and add the potatoes, pepper and onion to the pan. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon oil and stir to coat. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until tender and starting to brown.
- Remove from oven, unwrap corn and let cool enough to handle.
- Cut the kernels off the corn cobs, then stir together the corn, potatoes, peppers, onions and tomatoes.
- Whisk together the ¼ cup oil, salt, paprika, sugar, garlic powder, cumin, onion powder, black pepper, and cayenne. Pour over vegetables and stir to coat. Sprinkle with cilantro.
- Serve warm, room temperature, or chill to serve cold.
Nutrition Information
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Kathy says
I love the recipe. I doubled it. Actually used two bags of triple wash 24 oz American potato medley, used a red yellow and green pepper, and I did add a little apple cidervinegar to the vinaigrette about a couple tablespoons of apple her recipe but since I doubled it it was about a fourth of a cup. Anaheim pepper chopped finely because it was growing in my garden. Everybody in my family loved it and said it was delicious thank you so much Rebel.
Greg says
Just curious how can it be a vinaigrette without vinegar?
Ashley Fehr says
I make my own rules here I guess 🤷🏼♀️😬